


Experimental Investigations

by bitboozy



Series: Domesticated [23]
Category: Broadchurch
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Gen, Jealous!Ellie, Mostly Fluff, Office Romance, Open Relationships, Polyamory, Romance, but sexy fluff?, jealous!alec
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-21 10:07:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20691734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitboozy/pseuds/bitboozy
Summary: Alec and Ellie unexpectedly make friends with another couple thanks to the new forensic investigator at work. Only thing is, the couple has an open marriage. And a lot more fun.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So...this will maybe be fun? We'll see!
> 
> If it helps, I imagine Hal and Jenny as Martin Freeman and Sharon Horgan.

It has been four days since they’ve had sex.

Four.

For the average couple, this would not be an unusual occurrence, perhaps even a typical state of being. And certainly once the baby comes, it will be perfectly typical for Alec and Ellie. In fact they might be _lucky _to have only four sexless days go by in a row. But for the Alec and Ellie of today, the Alec and Ellie of right _now_…this is an excruciatingly long time.

This is, alas, just the way it has worked out. Though in the past they’ve been very good at juggling work and kids while making time for each other, this week they are not. They’re wrapped up in an arson case at work, and at home they’ve both been trying to spend as much one on one time with each of the kids as possible. Meanwhile Ellie’s pregnancy-induced fatigue has had her asleep by 9pm for the last four nights. Every morning he thinks about waking her early, but he can’t bring himself to.

On Friday morning, Alec leaves for the office early to get a head start on the work ahead. There’s a new forensic investigator joining the team and he wants to prep him as quickly as possible so that with his help they can put this arson case behind them. Left to her own devices, Ellie decides to wear a dress to work. Nothing frilly, very business casual, and it’s not going to fit her for much longer anyway. She puts on a little more makeup than she normally would, sweeps her shoulder length hair off her neck, wears a shoe with just a slight heel. She brings a more comfortable pair of shoes along with her, knowing she’ll probably want to change into them halfway through the day. She figures can entice Alec just little by little throughout the day, while keeping things _entirely _professional of course, and give him a taste of what’s to come later. It is Friday after all.

Ellie drops all of the kids off at school, then stops for coffee on her way into the station. When she enters CID, Alec’s office door is closed, and a quick peek through the open blinds tells her he’s in there meeting with the new forensic guy. She goes straight to her desk and gets to work.

A little while later, a man about her age emerges from Alec’s office with a stack of files in hand. She looks up and smiles politely. He smiles back. He keeps walking, then doubles back suddenly and she’s surprised to see him standing at her desk when she looks up again.

“Sorry to bother you, look like you might be in the middle of – “

“No, no. You’re the new forensic investigator?”

He holds his hand out to her befor she can stand up. She shakes it, staying seated. “Henry Grant. Hal.”

“Ellie Miller.” 

“Thought you might be Ellie Miller,” he says with an impish smile. She raises her eyebrows, amused, and he continues, gesturing at Alec’s office.“The DI described you as ‘short, dark hair, drinks too much coffee, smiles even when she oughtn’t.’”

Ellie tries not to grin. She picks up her coffee cup. “Mostly decaf these days, but it’s the placebo effect that counts, eh?”

“Looks like we’ll all be working closely together on this one.”

He’s oddly handsome. Why is he so oddly handsome? He’s got a nervous energy to him, like he knows he’s too smart for his own good but doesn’t want anyone _else_ to know. Must have been bullied as a child. But his smile is genuine and lopsided and implies he might be up to no good, even though she’s certain he isn’t.

“Hardy catch you up?”

Hal holds up the files. “Quite thoroughly. I’ll probably head down to the scene in an hour or so, once I’ve gone through all this.”

Ellie nods. “I’ll join you.”

“Oh, thanks, that’ll help.”

They smile at each other a little awkwardly for a moment, feeling as though they’d like to keep talking but not knowing what to say. She leans back in her chair, now feeling a bit impish herself.

“How else did he describe me?”

Hal narrows his eyebrows. “What?”

She nods in the direction of Alec’s office. “You mentioned only good things. Which means you must’ve left a few out.”

“Oh.” He chuckles a little. “Left out _maddening _and _a bit chatty_.”

She raises an eyebrow. “And?”

“And…” He glances back at Alec’s office. “_Pain in the arse_.”

Ellie grins. “There it is." 

Hal shifts his weight around. “You two been working together for a while, eh?”

“Long enough,” she confirms. She gestures to the stack of files. “Want a bit of guidance with those? Might go quicker.”

There’s that impish smile again. “That’d be nice, yeah, thanks. Could buy you another coffee in exchange,” he offers. “Decaf, of course.”

Alec comes out of his office then with a small thumb drive in hand. He drops it on Ellie’s desk. “CCTV from the pub across the street,” he announces, then notices Hal. “See you two’ve met." 

Ellie crosses her legs and folds her hands in her lap. “Well, I’m _a bit chatty_, so naturally I’ve kept him too long.”

Alec nods, then looks over at Hal, who looks a bit mortified. “Sorry, sir.”

Alec shakes his head. “No need. Imagine she managed to draw it out of you somehow. She’s that way.”

“What way is that?” Ellie asks, coyly. “_Maddening_?”

He flashes her the barest of smiles, then turns to head back to his office. “Nice dress, by the way.”

Ellie bites the eraser of her pencil. Hal is frowning at her in confusion.

“Sorry.” She drops the pencil onto her desk. “You were saying?” 

Her desk phone rings. “Sorry, one moment.” She looks at the ID, then picks it up. “What do you want?” Hal stands there awkwardly, watching her lips curl into a mischievous grin. “Oh, _do _you. I see.” She blushes quite visibly. “Have to earn it then, won’t you.” She uncrosses and recrosses her legs, all the while training her eyes on Alec’s office window, as if she’s doing it for his benefit. “We’ll see.” She hangs up the phone.

She’s a bit flustered when she looks back at Hal. “So sorry. Coffee, you were saying?”

Hal looks back and forth from Ellie to Alec’s office window. “…Was that him? On the phone.”

“Oh, Hardy, yeah,” she replies casually.

“You two _do _work closely together.”

Ellie sits up. “Oh, bloody hell, sorry. He and I are…partners.”

Hal is frowning still. “Yes, he said.”

“No, we’re – “ She makes a vague hand gesture. “On _and _off the clock." 

“Oh, you two are, um…” He makes a slightly less vague hand gesture. “Partners with benefits.”

Ellie laughs. “We live together. Which does come with benefits, granted, but alas it’s all very domestic and not quite as sordid as you might imagine.”

“…_Oh_. That he didn’t say.”

“No, he wouldn’t.” But she’s smiling. “Not very forthcoming, that one." 

She stands up and leans against her desk. “Still want to buy me that coffee, or were you chatting me up and now I’ve foiled your plans?”

Hal looks down, smiling at his shoes before he looks back up at her. “I. Um. _Was_…chatting you up, but I’d still gladly buy you that coffee.” 

“Oh, I’m tickled,” Ellie says, placing a hand to her own flushed cheek. “Haven’t been chatted up in ages."

Alec appears in his office doorway, eyeing them suspiciously. Hal notices him first and Ellie follows his gaze ‘til she sees him. 

“Oh, go back inside, there’s nothing to see here,” she chides him with a roll of her eyes.

Alec grimaces, but does as he’s told.

Ellie looks back at Hal and shrugs. “Bit possessive at times I’m afraid but all things considered he’s quite evolved. Only a bit grumpy,” she explains. “Shall we go?”

“…Yes, all right.”

“Good, then.” She grabs her bag. “I’ll get you all caught up.”

“On the case?”

She guides him toward the elevator. “On the _town_.”

** 

At the café, Ellie gives him A Brief History of Broadchurch, leaving out most of the unpleasant bits. There’s time enough for those. Then she digs into the files with him and fills in the blanks until he’s more or less caught up on the case. He’s started to seem less overwhelmed and much more confident, which unfortunately only makes him more attractive.

“So what brings you here then?” She asks, pushing the files away now and leaning back.

“The job, mostly,” Hal replies, finishing off his coffee. “That and my wife has been longing to move to the seaside.”

Ellie sits up straight. “Your wife.”

“Jenny. Yeah.” He glances at his mobile and when he looks back up Ellie is fairly astonished, clearly waiting for more. “What?”

“…Were you joking about chatting me up then? Back there.”

“Wish I could say yes, now that I know you’re shacked up with my boss.” He smiles at her and his eyes twinkle a bit. “But no. I was not joking.”

“Well then…” Her eyes are wide and she’s leaning forward.

“Oh. Sorry, yes.” He catches on. “Jenny and I have an open marriage.”

“_Oh_.” Ellie breathes out, leaning back again. “Don’t see a lot of _those _around here.”

He’s unnmoved. “I bet not.”

“So you…” She shakes her head. “Sorry, nevermind. You don’t need to explain yourself to me.”

He leans back, crossing his legs. “Quite all right, you’re not the first to have questions, believe me. Just means that Jenny and I are free to see other people, we try to stay as open about it as possible, and the only rule is we don’t fall in love with anyone else.”

Ellie blinks. “How do you manage that, then? One can’t exactly control who one falls in love with, no?”

She knows that better than anyone.

“Well, the idea is not to let it get far enough for that,” he explains. “It’s all a bit murky and sometimes we feel a little in the dark ourselves, but it’s all about communication so as long as we have that, we’re all right.” 

Ellie looks away, sipping her coffee. Hal is smiling. “What?”

“Just seems a bit too good to be true, doesn’t it?” She replies.

“It’s bloody hard work, actually,” he says. “You’d be surprised.”

“Clearly." 

He eyes her curiously. “You ever thought about it?”

“Oh, god, no.” She shakes her head. “Alec and I can barely handle the life we’ve got now, let alone….no. Is the answer, no.”

“Working together and living together, you mean,” Hal says.

Ellie nods. “Got kids in the mix as well. His daughter, my two sons. Seventeen, fourteen, and five. Plus…” She debates whether or not to tell him the truth. She has yet to hit the twelve week mark, and they’ve not told anyone outside of their immediate circle. The only people at work who know at Jenkinson and, unfortunately, Brian. “Yeah.”

“I see.” Hal nods slowly. “Seventeen, fourteen, and _five_. Quite an age difference there.” 

Ellie shrugs. “Well, what can I say? Birth control is hard, apparently.” She bites her lip, again trying to exercise restraint and _not_ tell him the rest. Also realizing that she really, really does suck at birth control.

He chuckles. “You’re divorced then.”

“…Yep. Yes.” She takes a long sip. “How long’ve you been married?”

“Thirteen years.” 

“And what does your wife do?”

“She’s a barrister.”

“Oh, does she know Jocelyn Knight?” Ellie asks, and then feels dumb for asking.

“Yes, because all barristers know each other, Ellie,” he laughs. “Joking. She’s actually one of Jocelyn’s protégés.”

Ellie nods. “Of course she is." 

Through the window, Ellie notices Alec come around the corner. He enters the café and approaches the table.

She’s not nearly as surprised to see him as he thinks she should be. “Well, hello there, Detective Inspector, fancy seeing you here.” She knew it would only be a matter of time, frankly. 

“Been gone a while now, could use you back,” he says brusquely. 

Ellie purses her lips and tries not to grin. Hal sits up straight in Alec’s presence. “Ellie was just –“

“DS Miller,” Alec says.

Ellie makes a face at him.

“…DS Miller was just catching me up a bit,” Hal says.

“I’ll bet she was.”

Ellie grabs Alec’s hand and then stands. “So grumpy!” She kisses his cheek. “Fine, I’ll go back. _Sir_. ” She grabs her bag, then makes for the door. “Thanks for the coffee, Hal.”

“Anytime, El—DS Miller.” Hal clears his throat, then looks up at Alec, who is staring down at him. “I’ll head over to the crime scene, then.”

Alec nods. “I’ll take you.”

He’ll be damned if _she _goes with him. 

*


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comments! Glad to see people are interested in this! (So far)

Alec and Hal return from the crime scene around lunch time. Hal goes to his desk and starts to get settled. Alec goes to his office. There he finds Ellie, sitting on the couch with her feet propped up on the coffee table, eating a sandwich.

He grunts at her as he takes his jacket off. “_My _office, you know.”

“Oh, so you can keep your baby in my uterus and I can’t eat my lunch in your office,” she retorts. “Unbelievable.”

He sits down at his desk, sulking. She stares at him, then exhales loudly. “God’s sake, Alec, he’s _married_.”

Alec’s ears perk up and he straightens.

“Such a bloody knob, come over here, will you?” 

He gets up and goes to sit on the couch beside her, only a little reluctantly now. She drops a sandwich onto his lap. “It’s cheese and pickle, eat it." 

He frowns at her.

“_Eat it_.”

He unwraps it.

“I have enough bloody children, you know,” she tells him, taking the last bite of her sandwich. She tosses the wrapper away and then watches as he takes a bite of his.

“He’s married?” Alec asks, mouth full of cheese and pickle.

“_Yes_.” She turns to face him and tucks her feet up under her thighs. “Why do you get like this? Jealousy is a byproduct of insecurity and I can’t think of one thing I’ve done that would cause you to be insecure.”

He looks away from her and takes another bite. A long moments passes, and then he says, “Not you.”

“What?”

“Not what _you’ve _done." 

She sighs. “…Oh. Bloody _Tess_.” She places her hand on his knee. “Sorry.” 

“No, shouldn’t be takin’ it out on you, should I?” He puts the sandwich down on the table. Three bites is about as much as Ellie can ask of him anyway.

She takes his hand in both of hers. “Can’t get all puffed up every time a bloke speaks to me. You can’t do it,” she tells him, with moderate compassion. “I’ll go crazy and so will you.” 

He nods, then looks at her wryly. “Just _had _to choose his first day as the day you wear a _dress _to work, didn’t you?”

She laughs. “I wasn’t thinking of that, I was thinking of _you_!”

“Oh, you were.”

Ellie shifts a bit, swinging her legs around and bringing her stockinged feet into his lap. “Thought I might torture you a bit.”

“Ellie, it’s been _four days_, is that not torture enough?” He complains.

He uses both hands to massage one of her feet, without even really thinking about it.

She chuckles. “Listen to you!” She exclaims. “_Four days_. Oh, poor Hardy.”

He had assumed she would be suffering right along with him, not taking the piss out of him, and so he pouts. “We’ve never gone four days before.”

“Then we’ve been _spoiled_,” she replies. “Anyway don’t pretend you didn’t know exactly what I was doing the minute you came out of your office and saw me in this dress.”

He keeps rubbing her foot with one hand while the other hand slides up her leg to her knee.

She shivers a bit. “Lucy’s taking the boys tonight…” She reaches forward to play with his hair. “And Daisy’s staying with Chlo…”

He groans, sliding his hand up to her thigh. “What time is it now.” 

She grins. “Half twelve.”

“Christ, I’ll never make it.” 

As his fingers sneak under her the hem of dress, Hal appears in the open doorway, knocking as he does.

“Sorry to – oh.” He looks away. “Sorry.”

Alec yanks his hand back and Ellie straightens herself out a bit, taking her feet out of his lap. She smiles brightly, recovering quickly, as she often does. “No, that’s on us. Sorry, come on in.”

Hal takes only one more step into the office. Alec can barely look at him.

“I’m just popping down to the lab, though one of you might – “

“Oh, yes!” Ellie replies enthusiastically. “I’ll tag along.”

She stands up and looks down at Alec. “You want to join or stay here?”

Alec avoids her eyes, struggling with the decision. Then he sighs. “You go.” It’s the right thing to do, he knows. If only to prove that he trusts her.

“Right then.” She slips her shoes back on, then leans down and kisses the top of his head. “See you later. Finish that bloody sandwich.”

*

Alec is working on his own for about ten minutes when a woman appears in his doorway. She’s about his age long auburn hair, not too tall but taller than Ellie, and wearing a crisp business suit.

“So sorry to be a bother, but you look official.” She looks around sheepishly. “Though this is a police station, _everyone _looks official. But you look…officially official. If I may say.”

Alec just looks at her. He has no idea what to say.

“Sorry, just looking for my husband. Started work today. About ye high.” She raises her hand to just above her head. “Bit cheeky, likes to play with crime scenes all day. Hal Grant?”

“Uh. Yeah.” Alec stands, because he remembers that this is the polite thing to do in the presence of a strange woman. “Just missed him actually, down at the lab now.”

“Ah, ‘course he is. Always in a lab somewhere.” She smiles. “Are you – “ She looks at the sign on his open door. “Oh, you’re the DI, are you.”

Instinct kicking in, he offers his hand to her. “Alec Hardy.”

She shakes it. “Jenny Grant.”

He pulls his hand back, then rests both hands on his hips, looking around a bit helplessly. In a social situation, this is typically when Ellie saves him.

“Bit…funny, he’s uh, your husband, he’s actually with my uh…with my.” Jenny is staring at him expectantly. “Girlfriend.”

“Ah!” She nods. “My husband in the lab with your girlfriend, my my. Guess we’ve swapped!”

Alec’s eyes widen.

“Just a joke,” Jenny says quickly. “Anyway, best be gettin’ on, I’ll catch him later, I s’pose. Thanks for the…information. Alec.”

He frowns. “Uh. Hardy. People…call me Hardy.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Even people who don’t work for you?" 

“Uh, yeah. Everyone…uh, just about everyone. Except my, uh…girlfriend.” He swallows.

Jenny is squinting at him. “Doesn’t quite roll off your tongue, does it? Not an accurate descriptor, then?”

“It’s just. Bit adolescent, yeah?”

“Need a better word then, do you?” She leans against the doorway, folding her arms across her chest with a smile. “More than a girlfriend, less than a wife?”

His eyebrows narrow. “Not…_less _than a wife.” He considers this. “More than a wife, frankly.”

She smiles, very much intrigued by him. “What’s more than a wife?”

He shrugs. “Don’t have the best experience with wives. Historically,” he tells her. “So she is certainly more than that.”

Jenny nods slowly, sussing him out. “Say, why’s your not-wife in the lab with my husband anyway?” 

“Works here. DS.” 

Jenny’s jaw drops with delight. “Shaggin’ your DS! Oh, how fun, I love it.”

Alec stares at her, thoroughly flummoxed.

“Sorry. Big sucker for workplace romances, me,” she says. “Always hoped I’d marry a fellow barrister. But alas I fell for a big ole nerd.” She grins, and when he doesn’t respond, she nods to herself. “Right then, I’m off. Nice meeting you. _Hardy_.”

“Yes. Right, you too, then.”

“See you ‘round.”

She disappears about as quickly as she came, and he returns to his desk. He glances at his mobile, grateful to see a text from Ellie. **Closing in on it.**

He texts her back: **Good. Also Grant’s wife was just here.**

Her response comes a few seconds later: **What! How dare a woman speak to you without me!**

He sighs, and flips his phone over, imagining her cackling in the lab, quite pleased with herself.

*

An hour later, sitting at his desk, he can hear Ellie’s laughter from afar. He stands, then follows the sound in to the break room, where Ellie is standing with Hal, both holding mugs of tea and laughing hysterically. 

“What’s funny?”

Her face lights up when she sees him. It usually does. “Oh, god.” She reaches for Alec’s arm and pulls him toward her, just naturally. “You would hate this joke.”

Alec frowns. “You don’t know.”

“I do know.” She looks at Hal. “Do not tell him.”

Offended, Alec says, “He works for _me_.”

Ellie looks at Hal and shakes her head sternly. “If you tell him, then _I _have listen to him complain all night about how he doesn’t get it, and frankly I can think of better ways our time can be spent. Can’t you, Alec?” She flutters her eyelashes at him and Alec sighs. “So I thought.”

Hal looks at Alec. “We were just coming to see you. Some of the lab results were quite promising.”

“Uh.” Alec clears his throat. “Good.”

Ellie holds onto Alec’s arm affectionately, but looks at Hal. “Alec met your wife earlier.”

Hal pulls out his mobile. “Oh, yes, she texted me. Hope she didn’t scare you off.”

Ellie laughs. “Not hard to do.”

“She’s…you know.” Alec shrugs. “Got a lot to say.”

Hal chuckles. “Accurate assessment, that is.”

“Sounds like we’d get on just fine,” Ellie remarks.

“Too well, I fear,” he says with a smirk.

Alec scoffs, frowning, very displeased with how _familiar _Hal is with her after so short a time. Ellie looks up at Alec’s face and sighs. She turns to Hal. 

“You go. I’ll snog him for a minute and he’ll be fine,” Ellie says, causing _both _men to frown.

Hal nods. “Right then.” He takes his mug and exits.

Ellie slips her arms around Alec’s neck and pulls him in close. He’s still frowning at her. She wonders if might hurt himself.

He doesn’t put his arms around her, they remain at his sides. “You really get off on playing me like a fiddle in front of him, don’t you?”

“Dunno what you’re talking about.” She pushes herself up on her tip-toes and tries to kiss him but he turns his head. “_Alec_.”

At least he isn’t pulling away from her. “He works for me, Ellie, and you just keep…undermining my authority, infantilizing me like that.”

She raises her eyebrows and lets go of him, stepping back. “_Infantilizing _you.”

“That’s right.”

She places her hands on her hips and he immediately regrets his words. “Just trying to get you to _relax _a bit, bloody hell, this is what I _always _do.”

He puts his own hands on his own hips now. “What?”

“Oh, please, you haven’t realized?” She asks incredulously. “You haven’t noticed that any time you start snapping at people around here, I drag you into the break room or your office and snog your face off for a bit?”

Alec is blinking rapidly, suddenly going through a mental montage of all the times they’ve snogged at work. Which is a lot of times. His jaw drops.

“_Yeah_,” she says, throwing her hands up. “Some detective you are! It’s kept a good lot of people from quitting, I can tell you that.”

At first, he feels furious. Speaking of being played like a fiddle, this is a prime bloody example. He shakes his head and turns away from her, rubbing the back of his neck in distress. Then he realizes he might be a little bit…impressed?

He tries to look at her behind him, over his shoulder. “You really do that?”

“_Yes_,” Ellie replies fervently. “And it bloody well _works_. You don’t eat, you don’t drink coffee, only thing I can do for you when you get all tetchy is stick my tongue down your throat!”

He turns back around slowly, sheepishly. He’s not sure why, but he might be just a little bit _moved _by this.

“Oh. Well that’s, um.” He shifts. “Good of you, I guess.” 

She steps toward him again and replaces her arms around his neck. “_Thank _you.”

He slips his arms around her waist, then leans down and kisses her. When their lips part, she’s smiling.

“The other day when you were on Donald’s case about the stupid fax machine, Katie came over to get me and said, ‘Ellie, come quick. Hardy needs a good snogging.’” She laughs. 

“Well, I don’t like _that_,” Alec says. “And she did not say ‘Ellie, come quick.’” 

Ellie shrugs. “Did say the rest though. _Hardy needs a good snogging_." 

He thinks about it, pulling her tighter against him. "_Do _need a good snoggin’, El.” 

She pretends to pout sympathetically. “I _know_, my poor love, so very _neglected _these days…”

Before she can continue mocking him, he kisses her again, harder this time.

“Mmm…” She sighs as he kisses her, and he pushes her back against the counter.

“This really is a good dress,” he mumbles, sliding his hands around to her arse.

The aforementioned Donald walks into the break room then, and is mostly unperturbed. At this point, most of the team has gotten used to such an occurrence as this. Alec pulls back from Ellie just a bit. 

“Sorry, guys,” he says, opening the refridgerator next to him. He pulls out a yogurt, then opens the drawer and pulls out a spoon, then exits again. 

Ellie starts laughing once he’s out of earshot, leaning her forehead on Alec’s chest. “Poor bastards don’t even blink an eye anymore.” He smiles in return, even amused by it himself. “Come on now. Let’s go look at Hal’s findings, yeah? We’ll make it through this day yet.”

*

By 4pm, Alec and Ellie have made an arrest in the arson case and by 5pm, the suspect has confessed. Neither one of them could have possibly predicted that this weeklong case would end so swiftly, and frankly, they have their new forensic investigator to thank.

Someone in CID pops a bottle of champagne at 5:02 and the team celebrates another case closed. Even Alec has a glass, despite champagne really not being his bag. Ellie abstains and hopes no one will notice. She takes this opportunity to introduce Hal to anyone he hasn’t met yet, playing a good hostess even though she has no need to do so. Alec sits on top of her desk with his glass of champagne and tries to keep to himself. The team is quite used to this, and more or less leaves him be.

His eyes are on Ellie, watching her navigate the room in that _dress_, her face all lit up. He can’t stop thinking about getting her home. To their child-free home. Where after four days of accidental abstinence he can finally –

“Congratulations?” He doesn’t notice Jenny appear near to him until she speaks. “Assuming you’ve cracked a case and this isn’t just Fucked Up Fridays at the office.”

He’s shaken out of his reverie and turns to look at her. “The first one.”

“Ah. Well then yes, congratulations.”

They watch their respective significant others chatter away with their colleagues, standing close together. Jenny nods in Ellie’s direction.

“That your not-wife?”

Alec nods slowly. “That is my not-wife.”

Jenny looks her up and down appreciatively. “Nice tits.”

Eyes wide, Alec looks at her, flabbergasted. Jenny smiles back.

“What? She has!”

He can’t believe it himself, but he laughs. “S’pose she does have.”

“Oh you _suppose_.” Jenny laughs harder. 

It’s as if an alarm has gone off in Ellie’s head. Alec, laughing, at work? 

She turns her head to spot him sitting on her desk with a strange woman standing beside him, both laughing out loud. She elbows Hal.

“That your wife?”

“Oh.” Hal turns. “That _is _my wife.”

Ellie grabs his arm. “Come on and introduce me then.”

They walk over to Alec and Jenny. Hal goes to his wife and kisses her on the cheek.

“See you’ve met Jenny,” Hal says to Alec.

“Twice now,” Alec replies.

Hal touches Jenny’s arm and gestures toward Ellie. “Love, this is El – DS Miller.”

Ellie rolls her eyes at that and holds her hand out. “Ellie Miller, pleased to meet you.”

Jenny shakes it. “Pleasure’s mine, _Not_-Mrs. Hardy.” Jenny looks at Alec and laughs. Ellie frowns. “Sorry, inside joke.” 

“…Inside joke?!” Ellie nearly exclaims. “Already?”

Hal smiles at Ellie reassuringly. “Jenny works fast.”

“I do, I’m sorry, the hazards of not being able to shut up,” Jenny says. “Anyway, you’re lovely, Ellie.”

“_Oh_.” Ellie blushes, and Alec chuckles at her. Which she notices. “What.”

“Nothin’.” He turns to Jenny. “Ellie doesn’t take compliments very well.” 

Ellie looks up at him, nose scrunched up. “Beg your pardon.”

“That’s a shame, you two make quite the attractive couple,” Jenny replies.

Ellie blushes again.

“See?” Alec says.

But Jenny is not paying attention, instead she seems to be trying to communicate something to Hal with her eyes. Hal’s eyebrows at furrowed and he shakes his head. She elbows him again insistently, and again he shakes his head.

“What?” Ellie asks, now very much intrigued.

“Nothing,” Hal says quickly. “We ought to get going. Still have loads of unpacking to do.” 

Alec nods fairly enthusiastically. “Yes, and we’ve got…_plans_.” He looks at Ellie pleadingly.

Before she knows what she’s doing, Ellie exclaims, “You should come for dinner!”

“_What_?” All three of them answer at once.

“Yes.” Ellie suddenly feels a bit dizzy but she doubles down on her original statement. “You’re new in town, we’ve got a victory to celebrate, it’s _Friday_…”

Alec tugs on her hand and silently begs her to walk this back.

“Oh, we couldn’t,” Hal says. “That’s kind of you, really, but – “

“It’s the perfect time, our kids are out of the house and everything,” Ellie insists. “Can’t promise the place will be _clean _but it _will _be empty.”

Alec groans audibly and it does not go unnoticed by anyone. That house is supposed to be empty for a _reason_.

To retaliate for his brazen rudeness, Ellie says, “Alec will cook.” 

“No, no, really…” Hal demurs, noting the wicked smile on his wife’s face.

“We’d love to,” Jenny says. “This is so kind, _thank _you.”

“Oh, good! Good.” She turns to find a piece of scrap paper on her desk and begins scribbling. “Here’s our address. Let’s say about an hour or so?”

“_Ellie_,” Alec protests. 

“Yes, you’re right, love, we’ll need to stop by the shop,” Ellie says. “Hour and a half.”

Jenny takes the piece of paper. “We’ll see you then!”


	3. Chapter 3

Alec and Ellie take separate cars home as they took separate cars to work that day. All Ellie can think about is the earful she’s going to receive when she walks in the door, and how she deserves it.

She stops at the shop, picking up what she _thinks_ are the ingredients for his favorite meal to cook. Then she decides to make a quick stop at Lucy’s. Fred has been unusually clingy this last week and she’d like to at least give him a hug before she leaves him there for the night. Also she’s procrastinating. Hard. 

Alec’s car is in the drive when she pulls in. Tentatively, she enters the quiet house and finds him in the kitchen with a cuppa.

“Got all your shepherd’s pie things…at least I think I did.” She puts the bag down on the counter, then leans against it, waiting for the onslaught. He doesn’t look at her. “Oh, come now. You can’t be _that _cross with me.”

He looks at her now and she nearly jumps at the look on his face. “Oh, can’t I?”

“It’s just _dinner_.” She folds her arms across her chest, standing her ground. 

“We had _plans_, Ellie. We went so far as to send the _kids _away,” he complains, incredulous that he even has to say it.

“We still _have _plans, they just have to wait until after dinner,” she counters.

“And not only did we have plans,” he continues, unperturbed. “You can’t for one bloody second have thought that having virtual strangers over to our home, one of whom who has just started _workin’ for me_, would be something I’d enjoy.”

She makes a show out of shrugging her shoulders. “Well, _I _dunno, you seemed to be getting on quite well with _her_.”

He would smile if he weren’t so angry. “Oh, and _I’m _the jealous one.” 

“I’m not jealous! Seemed like you might’ve made a _friend_,” she replies. “It’s in my best interest to encourage that.”

“Why? So I’ll leave you be once in a while?”

She frowns. “_No_, because it’s a good idea in life for a person to have the odd _friend _now and then, just a basic tenet of living, Alec.”

He shakes his head and nearly slams his mug down on the table. “All day long you’ve been teasin’ me about tonight. Gettin’ me all…._you _know – “

“Hot and bothered."

“_Whatever_, yes, fine. And _now _–“

Ellie thinks about it and looks at her watch. “Could fit in a quick one now if we really set our minds to it.”

He groans unhappily. “Don’t _want _a quick one, Ellie, it’s been _four days_, I want to…_you _know – “ 

“Ravish me.”

He raises an eyebrow. She raises one to match him.

“_Yeah_.”

She softens, sighs heavily, and goes to kneel before him on her tiptoes, placing her hands on his knees to help steady her. “All right, I’m sorry, I see your point. We could have had them over any other night and chosen one where we’re _not _all hot and bothered.”

It’s not often she admits defeat and what’s more, apologizes. He softens as well. “Thank you.”

She pushes herself up, then moves into his lap. He groans. “_Ellie_. This is _not _goin’ to help.”

“Sorry. Just thought you deserved one of these.” She takes his face in her hands and kisses him. “For what I put you through.” She kisses him again. “And what I’m going to put you through.” 

He pulls back a bit and eyes her skeptically. “…Are you doin’ the thing where you snog me to calm me down?”

“Maybe.” She plants kisses along his jawline and moves down to his throat.

“El.” He protests, but tilts his head to the side. “You do this for much longer and our guests are goin’ to find us half-starkers on the kitchen floor.”

“All right, all right.” She gives him on last kiss, then hops up off his lap. She laughs when she looks back at him, his lap in particular. “D’you need a cold shower before you get started on dinner?”

He sighs heavily, glaring at her as he heads out of the room. “I loathe you.”

She cackles to herself. “I’ll get it started!” She calls after him.

“You bloody well will not!” He calls back. “Stay out of my kitchen!”

*

Half an hour later, dinner is in the oven. Alec goes back upstairs and finds her in their bedroom, standing in front of the full-length mirror, clad only in her bra and knickers. Red lace, no less.

He stops in the doorway and immediately feel like the best thing for him to do is just turn and walk back out again but he can’t move.

“Uh.”

She whirls around.

He clears his throat. “That what you had on underneath your dress all day?" 

She nods. “Well. Assumed you’d have my clothes off within seconds of crossing the threshold, so yes.”

“Christ.” He turns back toward the door again.

“Wait, wait.” She turns her body profile to him. “Can you tell?”

He sighs. “Well, _I _can tell. But no one else can.”

“You think so?”

“Yes, can you put your dress back on now please?” 

He feels like he needs to cover his eyes to get out of this room alive. 

“Going to change,” she replies coolly.

“What’s wrong with what you had on?” He’d really like to see that dress again.

She turns back to him again. “_You _changed." 

“I showered!”

She goes to the closet. “Going to change into something a bit more casual.” She pulls out a pair of jeans.

He shakes his head at her. “Not your tarty jeans, El.”

“Why not?” She asks coyly.

“Because…” He realizes he might be salivating, unable to take his eyes off her. “Sod it, I’ll be in the kitchen.”

He turns and exits quickly.

*

Ellie joins him in the kitchen ten minutes later. She has changed into a red silk blouse, bit more low cut than she would wear to work, and a knee-length black skirt. He’s laying the table, wearing the thin jumper and jeans he changed into post-shower. 

“Look at you,” she says breezily upon entering. “My idea and I’ve made you do all the work.” She kisses his cheek. “Thank you.” 

His lips curl into a half-smile. “All sweetness and light now, aren’t you.”

She feigns offense. “I am _always _sweetness and light thank you _very _much.”

Alec slips an arm around her waist. “Think that outfit’s worse than the dress,” he remarks, planting a kiss on her neck. “Anyhow I thought I ripped all the buttons off this top the last time I took it off you.”

“You did.” She smirks. “I sewed them back on. I do have _some _domestic skills.”

Before he can argue, the doorbell rings. “Oh, that’ll be them,” she says, stepping out of his grasp.

“Oh, what joy,” he replies glumly, heading for the bar.

She takes a few steps backwards to go answer the door, then stops at the kitchen door. “By the way, there’s one thing I forgot to mention.”

He sighs. “What’s that?”

“Hal and Jenny are open.”

Alec stops what he’s doing. “…To what?”

“To…anything, apparently.” She shrugs animatedly. Off his puzzled look, she says, “They have an open marriage." 

The doorbell rings again and she runs off to answer it, leaving him stunned.

He stands at the bar for a moment, then remembers how badly he wants a drink and sets about making himself one. From the foyer, he can hear various bits of their greetings. “So happy have you join us,” “thank you so much for having us,” “don’t you look lovely,” “what a gorgeous home,” etc.

Ellie leads them into the kitchen holding a bottle of red wine, which presumably their guests have gifted them. Hal and Jenny have both changed into jeans and jumpers. Jenny has changed her hair, Alec notices, though he can’t remember what it looked like before

“Ah, I love a man makin' drinks,” Jenny says, rubbing her hands together.

Alec forces himself to smile. “What can I fix you?” 

“G&T?” Jenny requests. Hal nods and says he’ll have the same.

“Right, just a minute then,” Alec replies, taking a long sip of his before he goes about preparing theirs.

Ellie touches his shoulder. “How long do we have ‘til dinner, love?” Then she glances at Hal and Jenny. “He’s the chef in the family. My only job is to stay out of the way.”

“Bout fifteen minutes or so,” Alec answers.

“Then we’ll have an abridged cocktail hour!” Ellie suggests, putting on all the trappings of the perfect host.

“Sounds perfect,” Jenny says, as Alec hands a drink to her. “Thanks much.”

“Hope you didn’t have any trouble finding the place.”

“No, no,” Hal answers. “None at all.”

“Benefits of the small town.”

Alec hands Hal a drink.

“Thanks, mate.”

Ellie gestures for them to file out of the kitchen and into the living room.

“Nothing for you, Ellie?” Jenny asks, glancing back at Ellie over her shoulder.

“No, it’ll put me right to sleep, in my old age,” she explains with surprising conviction. “May have a sip or two of his though.”

“Don’t look old to me,” Jenny and Hal say at the exact same time with the exact same cadence.

They stop and look at each other, horrified. Ellie smiles awkwardly, and there’s that blush again. Alec nearly drops his drink. He grabs onto her hand before she’s fully exited the room, trying to silently communicate his concern to her. But she’s too distracted and already halfway out the door.

In the living room, Jenny sits herself on the couch, Hal in the chair. Ellie sits on the loveseat where she always sits, and Alec stands in the doorway with his drink. 

“Sorry it’s not as tidy as we’d like,” Ellie says, pushing aside a toy light saber with her foot. “Bit impromptu after all.”

_And whose fault is that_, Alec would like to say.

Jenny is surveying the room with an inscrutable expression. “_How _many children do you have?”

“I told you, love,” Hal says.

“Three,” Ellie answers. “His daughter, my boys.”

“Oh that’s right, two teenagers, yeah?” Jenny says.

“And my five-year-old, yes.”

Jenny’s gaze moves to Alec hovering in the doorway. “You goin’ to join us, DI Hardy?” She pats the couch cushion next to her.

Alec’s eyes widen and he looks at Ellie. There’s no way in hell he’s sitting next to anyone but her. Ellie holds out her hand to him.

“Come on and sit, love.” She looks at their guests. “The chef hates to abandon his kitchen.”

Jenny and Hal smile and nod. Alec accepts her hand gratefully and comes to sit beside her on the loveseat. Looking back and forth from Jenny and Hal, he feels a need to place his hand on her thigh possessively. This does not go unnoticed by anyone in the room. 

“So.” Hal taps his foot a bit uncomfortably. “How long’ve you two been….” 

Jenny blinks at her husband. “I believe the word you’re searching for is ‘together.’”

“Right, yes.”

“Oh, um…” Alec and Ellie both look at each other. Time seems to have had absolutely no bearing in their world since they got together. “Seven months?” 

Alec nods noncommittally. He honestly can’t remember. No one ever asks them, because everyone in town already knows.

“Oh, is that all?” Jenny laughs. “You seem quite…settled.” She gestures to the house itself, then vaguely to his hand on her thigh.

He presses his fingers into her thigh. “Known each other quite a while before that,” he says.

Ellie is impressed he’s deigned to say anything at all. “Worked together for a spell before we ever…” She sloshes a few different words around in her brain in an attempt to choose the right one. 

“Shagged?” Jenny offers. “Sounds like it was a long time coming.” 

Alec snorts quietly. 

Jenny smiled, leaning forward. “I’m right then.”

“Well, we certainly waited until we hadn’t any doubts,” Ellie grants her. 

“Sweet,” Jenny says, sipping her cocktail. “Oh, been meaning to ask, can you recommend a good gym in town?” She is looking directly at Alec. 

Alec furrows his brows and looks around him, unsure why the question seems to be directed at _him_. As if reading his mind, Ellie laughs.

“…Askin’ me?” Alec replies.

Jenny crosses one leg over the other as she looks him over. “Well, quite fit, aren’t you.”

Ellie laughs harder. Alec glares at her. “Sorry.” She winces, then looks at Jenny. “Only one in town anyway, up on the high street there. My son has taken to going, he could tell you about it, but this one…” She looks at Alec. “Not so much.”

“Surprised,” Jenny says with a keen eye trained on Alec. “Fill out that jumper quite nicely.”

Ellie looks at Alec, _dying _to see his face. It’s so funny to her she can’t even be jealous in the moment. He looks as if he’s been caught with pornography. Even in her laughter, she can’t help leaning over and kissing his cheek.

“Steady on, love,” she says softly. Then she looks back at their guests. “He says _I’m _the one who can’t take compliments only ‘cause he’s not used to getting any.”

Hal leans in a bit on this one. “Not even from you?”

“Oh, from me, certainly. But I don’t count,” Ellie replies, only a little thrown. “I’m just the not-wife.”

Alec clears his throat. “Ellie was goin’ to the gym for a while, until – “ He stops himself, feeling her pleading eyes on him. “Until she…got too busy.” 

Ellie nods too enthusiastically. “Mm-hm, very busy. Do a bit of yoga now and again though.”

“Oh, I’d love to join you next time,” Jenny says. “Seem like you’d be good at it.”

Ellie chuckles nervously and this time it’s Alec’s turn to look at her, thoroughly amused by her reaction. She has maybe never wanted a drink more in her life.

“_How about you two,_” Ellie says too loudly. She places her hand on top of Alec’s hand on her thigh. “Where were you before this?” 

“Oh, London, mostly,” Hal answers. This one he can handle. “Cardiff for a spell, but that didn’t last long.”

“We were convinced we were city dwellers for the longest, but in our old age, we realized we were forcing it upon ourselves,” Jenny explains coolly. “Thought we’d be more hip that way. Now we’re older ‘hip’ doesn’t seem to matter so much.” 

“Yes, I can understand that,” Ellie agrees. “Though I don’t think I was ever hip.”

“No, nor I.” That’s a sentiment Alec himself can get on board with.

“Quite pleased to be in Dorset now,” Hal says. “Bit of sea air ought to do us good.”

Ellie leans forward. “And no children for you?”

Hal and Jenny exchange glances. Ellie instantly regrets the question.

“…We tried,” Hal answers for both of them. “Wasn’t in the cards.”

Ellie desperately wants to ask about invitro, adoption, surrogacy, but thinks better of it. “Sorry,” is all she says. Now she _really _doesn’t want them to know she’s pregnant.

Alec catches Jenny staring at Ellie’s, um, necklace. He clears his throat. Jenny sees she’s been caught.

“That’s a gorgeous necklace, Ellie.”

“Oh.” Ellie looks down at it. _She _had not noticed Jenny staring. “Ta. Was my mother’s.”

Now _everyone _is staring at Ellie’s, um, necklace. Ellie feels self-conscious and reaches for the pendant, holding onto it. Alec grips onto her thigh much tighter than before. For him, it’s just for the connection, the skin to skin, the familiarity of it. In this kind of situation he’s totally at sea, but her body he knows better than his own and that can keep him afloat. Unfortunately, for Ellie, it’s only serving to turn her on. Which is the last thing she needs right now.

She exhales and he knows well that look in her eyes and how no good to come from it. Alec makes a show of looking at his watch.

“Ah, best check on dinner,” he says, standing up. “Could use a hand, El.”

So much for staying out of the way.

She stands up quickly. “’Course, love. Just be a minute, you two.”

Ellie follows Alec into the kitchen. He turns off the oven, then just leans against the counter.

“_Oh my god_,” Ellie gasps, trying to keep her voice down. 

“Can say that again.” He folds his arms across his chest.

“What is _happening _in there?”

“What’s happening is _both _our guests are tryin’ to get into _your _knickers,” Alec remarks, glaring at her like she’s a scorned child.

“Well then what was all that about you filling out that jumper?” She quips back. “_Oh, Alec, you’re so fit_.”

“She'sbloody relentless!” Alec complains, pointing in the direction of the living room. “Shamelessly starin’ at your tits by the way.”

Ellie reaches for her pendant again and blushes.

“Oh, stop blushin’ like a bloody virgin,” he says dryly. “You chose that top deliberately.”

He turns and opens the oven, pulling the shepherd’s pie out. The oven door slams shut. 

“Was only looking for something _nice_, my god.” Ellie leans against the counter, shaking her head. Unclear whether at herself or at him. 

“You knew this was goin’ to happen.” He drops the pan down on the stove and they both wince when it’s too loud. “You knew about their…their _arrangement_.” 

Her hands go to her hips. “Just because two people have an open sodding marriage doesn’t automatically mean they want to shag everyone they meet,” she argues. “They must have _friends_. Platonic friends.”

“He was chattin’ you up earlier, I knew he was,” Alec continues as if she’s said nothing.

“What about your little inside joke with _her_?”

He rubs his eyes. “_Barely _an inside joke, just some odd little thing about you bein’ my _not-wife _because you’re more than a girlfriend and…” He falters.

She raises a pointed eyebrow at him. “And less than a wife.”

“_Not _less than a wife, which is exactly what I bloody said to _her_!”

They both look away from each other stubbornly. They’re quite for a moment, both silently fiddling with random things on the counter. Then she glances over at him.

“Left a mark on my thigh, you did,” she says. When his gaze goes to her thigh, she follows it. There is indeed a bit of a red indent there.

He’s still glowering at her. “Wish I’d made it with my bloody _teeth_, but nooo, you had to invite a couple of very randy _guests _over.”

She looks away and rubs at her own thigh, trying to remove the mark. “You know what the trouble is, don’t you?” She looks back at him, very seriously. “They’re not the only randy ones.”

He sighs. “Yes, but _I’m _randy for _you_.”

She smiles. “Aw.” She takes a couple steps toward him saucily. “Want to cop a feel before I go back out there?”

He stiffens. “Not exactly goin’ to _help _matters.”

“Fine, then, I’ll go call them in.” She heads for the door.

“No, wait!” Alec calls out. He waves a hand and beckons her back over surreptitiously. She returns to him, standing within arm’s length. He reaches a hand out to touch her breast, sliding his hand along the edge of her silk neckline, then running his thumb over her nipple.

She shivers, but her cheeks are flushed. “All right, that’s enough.” She swats his hand away gently, steps back and turns on her heel out the door.

When she steps into the hallway, she runs right into Jenny, who is holding her empty glass.

“Oh, beg your pardon,” Ellie says.

“So sorry, no, that’s me,” Jenny says.

Ellie knows she cannot hide how flushed her cheeks still are and Jenny is soon grinning, thinking it might be because of _her_. 

“Just wanted to…grab another drink,” Jenny says carefully, her eyes falling to the pale pink blush that’s spread to Ellie’s chest now as well. This time Ellie notices.

“Right, I, um.” She goes to take the glass from her, their fingers touching, lingering a bit. “I can take care of it for you.” She pulls the glass into her own hand quickly.

Jenny smiles. “I appreciate that.”

They lock eyes, then Ellie turns away quickly, back into the kitchen.

Alec, who is putting the finishing touches on the meal, turns when he hears her come back in.

She stands in the doorway, glass in hand, looking like she’s just seen a ghost.

“…This is going to be bad.”

*


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading everyone! Happy you're into it! I'm guessing maybe two chapters after this and we'll be done.

The meal goes better than expected. The conversation is fairly harmless and light. Alec starts to forget their troubles and becomes somewhat entranced by Ellie instead. He’s often in awe of her in social situations, the way she seems _energized _by the presence of others, like she’s gotten a jolt of electricity. She interacts with them effortlessly and with such prodigious charm and easy grace. She draws him into the conversation just enough to keep him engaged but not so much that he feels yanked out of his comfort zone, and she keeps a hand accessible to him at all times for whenever he needs to reach for it. Watching her, he feels a bit guilty for keeping her all to himself these last months, for selfishly monopolizing her time. Intellectually he knows that is not at all how _she _sees it, but there are plenty of people in the town of Broadchurch who could benefit from her effervescent presence.

He may also be a bit dizzyed by her because, you know, _four days_.

Halfway through dinner, he’s startled by her hand laying atop his and he meets her eye.

“Still with us, my love?” She asks and oh god, that smile of hers is going to do him right in. And though she uses it sparingly, he may never tired of being referred to as _my love_. 

“Sorry,” is all he can say.

Hal is grinning. “Got him making eyes at you still, I see then, Ellie.”

Ellie squeezes Alec’s hand, as if apologizing on Hal’s behalf for being called out like that.

“Still?” Jenny scoffs. “They’ve only been together _seven months_, of course he’s still makin’ eyes at her.”

“Rather cute though, I must say,” Hal remarks, then looks at his wife. “Were we this cute at seven months?”

“Reckon we were,” Jenny replies, thinking about it. “But we were also in our _twenties _then and had no self-control. Surely Alec and Ellie have that now.” Her eyes are on Ellie. “Self-control.”

Ellie makes a sheepish face. “Not much, I’m afraid. Sorry to say we can be a bit naughty.”

Both Hal and Jenny lean back in their chairs, eyebrows raised. They are nothing even remotely resembling subtle.

“Oh, I just mean – “ Ellie hand moves to cover her face and thereby cover up her embarrassment. “Just meant we can be a bit handsy from time to time, not that we’re…” She sighs. “Anyway.”

“Don’t need to explain yourself to _us_,” Hal replies. “I learned the hard way this afternoon to knock on Hardy’s office door before entering even when it’s open.”

Hal’s had a few drinks now and is most certainly loosening up. Jenny gasps with delight and nudges him. “Do tell.”

“Ach, no.” Alec is shaking his head, somewhat pained. Ellie squeezes his hand again.

“Found him with his hand halfway up her dress,” Hal says with a laugh.

Alec hangs his head. Ellie rubs his arm now with her other hand. 

“Only _halfway_,” Ellie reiterates with a smile, trying to deflect and keep the mood light.

“Door was wide open, Jenny, I swear,” Hal says to his wife, who is purely delighted.

“_God_,” Jenny exhales, biting her lip. “I really do love an office romance. So illicit yet familiar.” 

Alec throws back a good bit of his scotch, fortifying himself for his next move, which is to say: “Comes in handy bein’ the boss.”

Ellie nearly gasps out loud. He’s made a _quip_, a _saucy quip_, in front of _other people_.

“Think you mean _comes in handsy_,” Jenny says with a cackle.

Alec has made a conscious decision, with great difficulty of course, _not_ to allow himself to be embarrassed. Or grumpy. Or uptight. Three neat scotches have given him the courage while the loose, bawdy company of his guests has given him the motivation. He decides it’s his gift to Ellie. Ellie, who despite her horribly contrary and impetuous nature - that which has gotten them into this vexing situation – is _good _and _kind _and _patient _with him. If what she wants is a bit of fun for one night, he can at least try to help her have it.

He throws his hands up a bit and looks Ellie over appreciatively. “Well, can you blame me?”

Ellie looks at him like he’s shape-shifted in front of her very eyes. Hal and Jenny laugh and are indeed quite encouraged. 

“Can’t blame you one bit,” Hal replies.

Jenny is grinning. “Not. One. Bit.”

Ellie drops her napkin down on the table. “Right, well, as thrilling as this is…”

“It’s not as thrilling as the wine we’re about to open!” Hal exclaims, gesturing to the bottle of red they brought.

Hal gets up and to Ellie’s surprise, Alec gets up too in order to help him. He gets three glasses while Hal opens the bottle. He pours into each glass and Alec hands them out.

“Oh, Ellie, really you won’t join us?” Jenny says, clearly bereft.

Ellie avoids their gaze, shaking her head.

“Come on, then,” Hal goads her. “It’s prize wine, I tell you.”

“The problem is in fact that she’s _too _much fun with the addition of alcohol,” Alec explains helpfully. “Far beyond what any of us could appreciate.”

“Oh, I very much doubt that,” Jenny counters. “My capacity for _appreciation _is limitless.”

Alec drapes his arm along the back of Ellie’s chair and squeezes her shoulder. 

“I mean what I said earlier,” she tells him. “It’ll put me right to sleep. I simply can’t handle it the way I used to.”

It’s a bit torturous for her, frankly. She’d give anything to be able to drink right now. She hasn’t missed it much the last two months but now she feels her desperation growing rapidly. So rapidly in fact that she’s grateful when she hears her mobile vibrating from the counter.

“So sorry.” She hops up to check it, then looks apologetically at her guests. “My son, just give me a minute.”

She disappears into the hallway. Alec takes a long sip of his wine, preparing himself to be left alone with them.

“So, Hardy,” Jenny begins, and the look on her face is terrifying to him. “Any marriage plans?”

“_Jenny_,” Hal scolds her, though he’s smiling and it’s clear he’d like to know the answer.

Jenny shrugs. “Not an unreasonable question, though of course I won’t pressure you _too _hard to answer it, Hardy.”

“We’re, uh.” He looks to the hallway in the hopes that she’ll return at exactly the right moment. She doesn’t. “Not big marriage fans here. Both done it once already.”

“That’s fair enough,” Hal replies, appearing satisfied.

“Well, sure, and not everything is built to last, is it?” Jenny says nonchalantly.

Alec frowns at her.

Hal catches this and leans forward. “I don’t think she meant – “

“I meant what I said, one never really knows, does one?” Jenny continues. “Relationships are so ephemeral by nature. People change, needs evolve. Couples fall out of love all the time. All we can do is enjoy them in the moment and hope for the best.”

Hal takes a drink and pats her hand. Alec leans back in his chair thoughtfully.

“Well.” He taps the surface of the table with his index finger. “I _do _try to enjoy it in the moment as much as possible, but I have no fear of falling out of it. What Ellie and I have was quite hard-won. And there’s an extent to which it feels…fated.” He swirls around the wine in his glass, keeping his eyes on the liquid. “Not some casual workplace romance that is simply convenient or…easy. There was a great deal of suffering that led me to Broadchurch and though the way it all happened was…_anguish_, frankly, for us both, I don’t believe it was an accident. All told.”

Jenny and Hal are both listening intently, trying to mentally dry up the alcohol that’s soaking their minds to pay as much attention as possible.

“I could have ended up anywhere after I left home, but I ended up here. Where she was.”

Hal tries to lighten things a bit. “So you were just two lonely, divorced detectives, thrown together…”

“No,” Alec says firmly, but then finds himself wishing he’d have just let that go so he wouldn’t have to explain any further. Alas. “Ellie was married when we met.”

“_Oh_,” Jenny says. “So you two…”

“No, nothing, not even close, not until they’d…split up,” he answers. “And frankly, long after that.” He takes a sip of his wine. “Like I said. Hard-won.”

Ellie enters again, leaving her mobile on the counter.

“Sorry about that,” she says, announcing her presence. “My little one is a bit…emotional these days. Gets it from me, I’m afraid.”

She sits back down. Alec lays a hand on her wrist. “He all right?”

“Oh, yeah, fine,” she replies. “Just wanted to say goodnight. To you too.”

“Awfully sweet,” Jenny says.

“So your son must’ve been quite young when you and your husband split,” Hal observes, and even Jenny glares at him with surprise.

“What?” Ellie grimaces. “Yes, he was…a year old. What on earth have you three been on about in here?”

Jenny smiles reassuringly, clearly taking a new tact. “Hardy’s just been telling us how you met.”

Ellie’s eyes widen. Alec squeezes her wrist. “The _abridged _version,” he assures her. He can _feel_ her breathe a sigh of relief.

“A year old,” Hal says, nodding. “Not surprising he’s a bit emotional.”

Jenny whacks his arm. “What are you a bloody child psychologist now? Get over yourself.”

Ellie’s kingdom for a _drink_.

She looks away from all of them, then stands up again. “Why don’t you all go back out into the living room, I’ll clear the table and start the washing up.”

Alec holds onto her hand and just looks at her, searching her face. “Ellie.”

“I’m fine,” she says with a small smile. “Honest. Go on.”

Alec stands and reluctantly leads Jenny and Hal out of the kitchen. Once Jenny and Alec file out, Hal decides to stick around.

“I’ll help you,” he says, beginning to gather the plates from the table.

“Oh, no, that’s all right, really.” She tries to stop him.

He places the plates down in the basin and then reaches out to touch her arm. “Let me apologize.”

“I…no, you’re fine.”

“I didn’t mean to imply anything, though I hear now that I certainly did,” he explains. “My parents split when I was three. Bit of a sore subject still. Which is surely not due to the event itself but to my parents’ inability to, well, parent. You seem like a perfectly lovely mum.”

She nods, accepting his apology, and starts gathering the silverware. “Some days.”

“I realize I’ve only known you a day." 

Ellie chuckles. “Oh, but what a long day it’s been.”

He turns on the faucet. “I’ll wash, you dry?”

She smiles. “All right. Ta.”

In the living room, Alec is shocked to suddenly be alone with Jenny. And in his shock, he makes the mistake of sitting down first. Something he is careful to never, ever do in social situations.

When he sits down on the couch, Jenny sits down beside him. He stiffens and tries to inch himself back from her.

“I hope I didn’t offend you with all the anti-marriage talk,” she says out of the blue. “I’m pro-marriage, believe it or not. But I see the arguments against for some people. Especially for people whose lives are already…established outside of their relationships.”

“…You mean people with kids,” Alec replies.

“Yeah, guess so.” 

For a brief moment there’s quiet as they both sip their wine, until Jenny says, “Ellie told you about our arrangement, I assume.”

_Not soon enough_, he thinks to himself. “She did.”

Jenny nods, tracing the rim of her wine glass with her index finger. “You’ve never thought about it?”

Alec can’t help scoffing too loudly. “No.”

“Not even once?”

Alec finds the idea truly preposterous. Not generally, but for them. Impossible to imagine. “Christ, no.” He fears he’s offended her. “Not that it’s – not that I _judge _it. But personally, it’s…I, um. Frankly can’t get _enough _of Ellie, can’t imagine needing anything more. We, uh. Keep each other quite busy as it is.”

Jenny is amused. “You shag a lot, is what you’re sayin’.”

Alec says nothing, thereby confirming her suspicions. 

“I see,” Jenny says with a smile. “Hal and I have quite a healthy sex life between us as well, but still it’s…_refreshing _adding other people in the mix from time to time.”

Alec can only shrug his shoulders. “I haven’t eyes for anyone but Ellie.”

“For _now_.”

“Well, I can’t predict the future,” he says, unperturbed. “But I’m not worried about it.”

Jenny smiles and pats his knee. More with compassion and admiration than anything else, but that’s the moment Ellie walks into the room with Hal.

Hal shoots daggers at his wife, who quickly removes her hand.

“Oh,” Ellie says, exhaling. “Well.”

“Ellie,” Jenny greets her brightly. “We were just talkin’ about you.”

Ellie grits her teeth. “Yeah, looks like.”

Alec drinks his wine. Jenny continues. “It’s true. If only you’d walked in seconds earlier you’d have heard him say _I haven’t eyes for anyone but Ellie_. Quote unquote.”

Ellie looks at Alec, and all he does is smile back at her. She nods. Frankly, that sounds like him and she has no reason to doubt him.

Hal breaks the silence. “You smoke cigars, Hardy?”

Ellie’s soft expression turns into a glare. “Don’t you dare.”

Alec gets up and as he walks past her, he whispers, “What, you can have fun and I can’t?”

Hal pats his shoulder. “Come on out to the car, I’ll get them.” 

Alec gives her a quick kiss on the cheek as he follows Hal out the front door. She just about growls at him as her eyes follow him out.

She takes her time in turning back to face Jenny, whose eyes she can _feel _on her. When she does, Jenny is smiling into her wine glass, her eyes indeed trained on Ellie.

Ellie takes a deep breath, and goes over to the couch.

*


	5. Chapter 5

Jenny is regarding her curiously when Ellie turns her attention back to her.

“He has a heart condition,” Ellie explains.

“Oh.” Jenny actually looks a bit concerned. “I can go get Hal to put them away, if you’re really – “

Ellie considers it, but then waves her off, moving to sit beside her on the couch. “Just one won’t hurt him, I suppose, but he’s…” She chews the inside of her cheek, trying to decide how to explain it. “He’s not very good at taking care of himself sometimes. Though he’s been better lately.”

“I see.”

“Reckon he does deserve it though, just this once,” she admits. She rubs her temple. “Deserves all sorts of things.”

Jenny offers her smile. “Wasn’t wild about you invitin' us over, eh?”

“He…don’t take it personally, he’s just not a very…social creature,” Ellie explains. “We were also supposed to have the evening to ourselves, that’s why – “

“I’d wondered why your children were all conveniently out of the house.” Jenny smirks. 

“It’s been four days. Since we. So…” Ellie fidgets a bit uncomfortably.

Jenny laughs. “Oh, you _do _shag a lot if you think four days so long a time.”

Ellie’s eyes widen. “…What? Did _he _say that?”

“More or less.” Jenny takes a sip of her wine. “’s all right, Ellie, you’re in essence newlyweds, aren’t you? Without all the wedded nonsense.”

This is actually a helpful way for Ellie to look at it. “…S’pose so.”

“Besides, nothing wrong with a healthy sex drive.”

“Well, especially being – “ Ellie stops herself before she can say _pregnant_.

“Being what?”

“Nothing. How long is too long for you two?” She asks deftly.

“Oh, um. Hard to say, now we’ve opened things up and can see other people,” Jenny replies. “But before we did that I might say…little over a week or so? Though it would depend on the week.”

Ellie nods. “Not sure why it’s so hard for us. I keep thinking it must be much harder on couples who don’t see each other as much as we do, but now I wonder if we’re this way _because _we’re together as much as we are. Hard to resist it when it’s right in front of you. So to speak.”

“Sounds fairly reasonable.” 

“It’s odd, it’s like the more I’m with him, the more I want to jump him,” Ellie says. “As opposed to…the more I’m with him, the more I’m used to him and the less exciting it is. It’s still…_unbelievably _exciting. Never had so much _fun _in my whole life. Dunno why it is.”

“I’m sure the illicit workplace aspect helps,” Jenny says.

“Not so illicit now that everyone knows. Was quite thrilling for a while before we had to come out. So to speak.” 

Jenny crosses one leg over the other and sips her wine. “I don’t normally go for Scotsmen, if I’m bein’ honest, but _that_…that is an attractive man, Ellie. Even for all his broody, cranky, socially impaired-ness, he’s really a bit…_dreamy _in his way,” she remarks, conjuring him in her mind. “And one look at him suggests he’s quite well-endowed.”

Ellie’s eyes widen.

“Am I wrong?”

“Uh.” She scratches her head and looks away. “…No.”

Jenny claps her hands together with glee. “_God_, I knew it!" 

“Oh, he’d kill me.” Ellie covers her face with her hands. “You _can’t _say anything.” Then she looks away again and mumbles, “Especially not to my sister.”

Jenny mimes zipping up her lips. “Anyway, to my point, _he’s _a gorgeous specimen of man and _you_…are…you are one of those rare people who lights up from the inside whenever you feel genuine mirth. You have a glow about you sometimes. And I’ve only known you a day.” Ellie goes into full blushing mode. She just cannot help it. Jenny laughs. “I’ve seen you blush more times tonight than I’ve blushed my entire life, but if you’ll allow me just a minute more, you do realize you have an _incredible _rack, don’t you?”

Ellie wishes she could cover her face again, but she’ll be damned if she’s branded as shy and self-conscious. She refuses to be either of those things. Especially with _her_.

“Well.” She glances down at her own chest. _Helps to be pregnant_, she’d like to say. Although admittedly she’s always been happy with this part of her body, if nothing else. “Thanks.” 

“If he’s well-endowed, so are you,” Jenny quips. “You are, I reckon, quite well-matched in this respect. You’re very lucky that way.”

“In many ways,” Ellie agrees. She tucks her feet up under her thighs, now feeling a bit more relaxed and facing Jenny more comfortably.

Jenny takes this as a sign of encouragement. She puts her wine glass down on the coffee table.

“I’ve never been particularly subtle, Ellie,” Jenny tells her. “So I would wager you’ve noticed that I’ve become a bit….enamored of you.”

“….Is that what that is? I don’t, I wouldn’t, I mean I just…am not very good at recognizing that sort of thing,” Ellie stammers. 

“You recognized my husband chattin’ you up earlier, he says,” Jenny counters.

“…Easier to notice in men. For me. ‘Cause that’s what I’m…used to, I guess.” Ellie feels like she should maybe start inching away, but she can’t bring herself to.

“Not so different in women. This part.”

Ellie brings a hand to her chest. Hoping maybe she can keep herself from blushing this time. “…What part.”

Jenny moves closer and tucks a strand of hair behind Ellie’s ear.

“…_Oh_,” Ellie exhales. 

Jenny places a hand atop Ellie’s hand that’s covering her chest and gently removes it. 

“I like it,” Jenny says softly.

“…What.” Ellie is totally frozen.

“The blushing.”

Jenny places a hand on Ellie’s knee, just underneath the rising hem of her skirt. The other hand she runs along the silk neckline of Ellie’s blouse, fingers brushing over the top of her breast.

She shakes her head just imperceptibly. “You don’t want to….”

“Ellie.” Jenny looks her square in the eyes. “Look at where my hands are. I _clearly do_. Want to.”

“I’m…” She shakes her head a bit more now. Jenny places her palm flat on Ellie’s chest, the skin there burning, and leans forward a bit. “Pregnant!” Ellie exclaims. “I’m pregnant.”

Jenny pulls back just the littlest bit, processing the information, blinking a few times before breaking into a smile. “Is that supposed to turn me off?”

Ellie swallows. “…Doesn’t it?”

Jenny shakes her head slowly, leaning in again. “Not in the least," she says. "Though it's quite cute that you think so."

The hand on her knee now begins to slide underneath the hem of her skirt. Ellie moves back suddenly, then jumps up off the couch. “One moment,” she says, breathing heavily, then she scurries out the door.

Outside, Hal and Alec are leaning against Hal’s car, absently puffing cigars. It’s possible they’ve not actually spoken to each other at all yet.

Ellie comes running out in a flushed, frazzled state and they both immediately stand up straight and turn to her. She grabs onto Alec’s arm and pulls him away; he deftly hands his cigar over to Hal as she does.

They’re probably not _quite _out of Hal’s earshot, but it’s enough for her to feel comfortable if they speak in a whisper.

“What’s the matter?” Alec questions, now deeply concerned.

She’s still somewhat breathless for some reason, and he finds this very perplexing.

“Is it cheating if I kiss a woman?”

He wavers a bit, suddenly unsteady on his feet, and regards her with careful, questioning eyes. Somehow, he is not quite as surprised as he should be.

“I…” He rubs the back of his neck. “Well, would feel a bit homophobic to say no. Kiss is a kiss regardless of gender.”

“Yes that’s very evolved of you I’m very proud but would _you _feel like it’s cheating if I kiss a woman?!”

The face he is making at this point…cannot be described.

“You want to kiss Jenny.”

“She _really _wants to kiss _me_.”

Alec is _very _close to smiling. Oddly enough he seems to be finding this quite adorable.

“And you want her to. Else you wouldn’t be out here,” he surmises.

“Not if you don’t want me to,” Ellie insists. “If you don’t want me to, I’ll put her off and never think on it again. I swear it.”

He regards her for a moment. She’s so antsy and bothered and _clearly _wound up. She’s been randy all evening, they both have, but now she’s positively _teeming _with it. It’s rather _sexy _in fact.

Alec smiles now, just a bit. “If you want to kiss her, kiss her.”

“…You’re sure.” She’s bouncing a bit on her tiptoes now.

“If it’s just this once, just tonight, then yeah.” Alec realizes that it has nothing to do with him, and he’s quite pleased with himself for this epiphany. “Go on. Find me when you’re done.” 

She stares at him for a brief moment, trying to measure the veracity of his words. He seems to have an unusual clarity, a steadfast sort of confidence in his decision.

“I love you,” she says, with equal conviction.

“Go.”

She scurries off at lightning speed. Alec watches until she’s back inside, then slowly makes his way back to Hal and takes back his cigar.

Hal glances at him knowingly. “They’re going to, aren’t they?”

Alec nods solemnly. “Just, you know…kiss.”

Hal raises an eyebrow then takes a puff of his cigar. “You sure? Jenny can be quite persuasive.” 

If this gives Alec pause, it’s only for a moment. “I’m sure.”

When Ellie reappears in the living room, Jenny has downed the remainder of her glass and seems to have given up. When she sees the look on Ellie’s face, her spirits rise again.

Ellie sits back down on the couch, one leg folded under her, the other foot on the floor.

“Do it,” she says.

Jenny emits a low chuckle, then wastes no time and reaching for Ellie and pulling her in by the nape of her neck. Their lips press together and Jenny gives Ellie a few seconds to get used to it before parting her lips with her tongue. The second Jenny sticks her tongue in her mouth, Ellie moans softly at the newness of it, the softness of her, the lack of a stubbly beard. Both women lean forward into each other, to sit on their knees. 

Outside, both Hal and Alec are desperate to look through the window. But Alec won’t let them. It wouldn’t be fair to Ellie. This is a moment she gets to have to herself. Much as he’d kill to watch.

The kiss grows in intensity and Jenny slips her hand just underneath Ellie’s skirt, pressing it to her thigh. Her other hand goes to cup her breast through her shirt. Ellie has no idea what to do with _her _hands. They just sit in her lap a bit limply. She can’t think straight enough to try to figure out an alternative. Jenny squeezes her breast and groans happily, sliding her other hand further up Ellie’s thigh. It makes a sudden turn for the inside of it, between her legs. 

Ellie suddenly lurches backward, breaking the contact of their lips, and pushing Jenny’s hand away.

“Sorry, that’s it. That’s…enough, far as I want to go,” she says breathlessly.

“Okay,” Jenny says, finally now blushing herself, and sits back against the couch trying to collect herself.

“Sorry.” Ellie turns her head toward her. “Didn’t meant to – I hope that wasn’t being a tease.”

“No.” Jenny shakes her head, _feeling _like she’s been teased but knowing that’s not the case. “No such thing, you stop when you want to stop.”

Ellie almost smiles thinking that women are so much nicer than men this way. Jenny turns to look at her now as well, both of them leaning back against the couch as bit breathless.

“You all right?” Jenny asks.

Ellie nods. “Just a one time thing though, okay?”

Jenny nods slowly, trying not to convey her disappointment. “Okay.”

“Thank you.”

Jenny grins at her. “Oh no need to thank me. Mutually beneficial, that was,” she says. “Though not _quite _as beneficial as I’d have liked.”

Ellie smiles back. 

Alec appears in the doorway with his hands in his pockets. Hal comes up behind him. To Ellie’s surprise, Alec is smiling at her.

Hal takes a step forward. “Come on, Jen. Let’s go then, yeah?”

Jenny nods, agreeable for the first time all night, and gets up. Hal holds a hand out to her and she accepts it. They head for the door, Alec leading the way. Ellie follows a ways behind. They say their goodbyes and Alec closes the door behind them.

He turns to her. She’s standing by the wall a little unmoored, arms hanging at her sides.

“How was it then?” Alec asks. He wants them to be one of those couples that talks about _everything_. And _listens_. For all their banter and clever sniping, above all he wants them to last. And that means asking the questions and really hearing the answers.

“Bit weird,” Ellie replies with a sheepish shrug of her shoulders, but she’s smiling. “Very nice though. Quite…soft." 

Alec half-nods. “Soft.”

“Must be like what you feel when _you _touch _me_,” she offers, trying to be helpful, but also considering this very thoughtfully herself.

He smirks, taking one step closer to her. “So it was like touching _yourself_.” 

“Hadn’t thought of that.” Her smile brightens. Maybe into one of her _glows_. “I must feel quite nice.”

He smiles back. “Wouldn’t know where to _begin_.”

Ellie leans back against the wall, pressing the sole of one foot against it.

“So she touched you?” He wonders, taking another step closer.

Ellie nods her head. “Here.” She tucks a strand a hair behind her ear. “Here.” She runs one hand along the top of her breast along the plunging neckline of her top. “And here.” She places her other hand on her knee, then slides it up, pushing up her skirt.

Alec is suddenly filled with the overwhelming need to take her picture. Standing there like that. Hands on her own body. Eyes burning into him. His trousers are already beginning to feel tight.

“Are you trying to seduce me, DS Miller?”

“Nah,” she replies, coolly. “Don’t need to seduce you. You come pre-seduced.”

His face breaks out into a grin and he starts laughing. Then she starts laughing.

“That’s true,” he agrees, through his laughter. “You seduced me once seven months ago and it’s not worn off.”

“Yeah.” She nods, proudly. “My feminine wiles are just that strong.”

He takes another step toward her.

“Though I would argue you seduced me,” she adds. “In point of fact.”

He laughs again, and he can’t stop grinning. “You showed up at my house with a bottle of Glenlivet in a see-through top!”

It feels like years ago. A decade.

She tilts her head to the side. “…Did, didn’t I?”

She remembers standing outside his house with her back to him and suddenly feeling his lips on her bare shoulder. She’d never before melted so quickly or completely.

One look at his face and she knows he’s remembering the exact same thing. His smile fades and he becomes very, very serious.

“Turn around,” he demands.

She raises one eyebrow and for a moment seems like she might challenge him. But they’re on the exact same wavelength somehow. She turns around, placing her palms against the wall, holding herself just inches from it. He takes the last two steps in her direction until she can feel the heat of his body behind her. He pushes her hair to the side with one hand and with the other pushes the fabric of her top off her shoulder. Then he bows his head and presses his lips to the smooth skin he’s revealed there. He brushes his lips across her shoulder to her neck and tilts her head to the side and bites her there. She inhales sharply and he smiles into her skin.

“Now,” he says, smoothing the bite mark with his tongue. “Show me again where she touched you.”

He hadn’t expected to be _quite _so turned on by the idea it, but he supposes he ought to have seen this coming, given how unusually calm he had been about the whole thing. The idea of another man touching her would send him raging at the night and demanding vengeance from the gods like the hero in some Greek tragedy. But the idea of another _woman _touching her is…well, a bit jarring to be honest, and also…very, very appealing. It should not be less threatening, logically, he knows. But it is.

She finds his right hand and brings it to her breast. Then finds his left and brings it to her thigh before sliding it up underneath her skirt.

“And what did _you _do,” he asks, though the way he says it, it doesn’t feel like a question.

She’s afraid of ruining the moment, but she has to tell the truth. “Just sat there." 

He can’t help it. He laughs. She feels his body begin to quake with the laughter and she grins. He presses his lips fervently to the back of her neck and says, “I love you.”

She leans to the side and tries to turn her head back so she can look at him, still grinning. “Go on and fuck me then, will you? This whole evening has driven me half-mad.” 

“All right then.” He kisses her lips once, then slides his hand further up her inner thigh. “Consider this the appetizer.”

*


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! Hope the ride was a fun one!

The appetizer is just as good as the main course when he’s serving it.

Standing there in the hallway, he gets her off with his hand and she collapses against the wall, panting. He kisses her neck and shoulder until she recovers, then turns her around to face him. Gently and with great reverence, he begins unbuttoning her blouse. She watches him with amusement, her arms hanging at her sides. 

“Oh, now, _this _time you’re careful,” she remarks, remembering the last time she’d worn this top and he ripped all the buttons clean off.

“I like the way your whole body quivers when I do it slowly,” he replies smarmily.

Not to be outdone, she replies, “And I like the very serious look on your face when you’re concentrating this hard.” 

“This blouse has earned my respect now,” he says, _very seriously_. “I will treat it with the care it so deserves.”

Buttons undone, he pushes the sides open, then places his hands on her hips. He exhales a sigh of great relief. 

“What?” She asks, biting her lip to keep from laughing at him.

“I’ve waited four sodding days for this, El.” His eyes run over her body hungrily. “Finally feel like I can _fucking breathe_.”

She does laugh at this. So bloody dramatic sometimes, though in fairness she does enjoy it. 

“Not for much longer,” she tells him, with one eyebrow raised, dropping to her knees.

His breath catches in his throat and he tries to protest, albeit weakly, because there’s so much more he wants to do to her. “We’ve got all night, love,” she assures him. The truth is, she’d like to be able to discuss the evening’s events in greater detail, and what they might mean, and there’s no chance either of them will be able to until they’ve both gotten off at least once.

Alec braces himself against the wall this time, the tables having turned, as she unbuttons his trousers and takes him into her mouth. He’s not sure if her skills at this particular task are unparalleled or if she simply turns him on so much generally that anything she does to him would get him off with little effort. Perhaps a little of both and either way he has no complaints. The only thing he regrets about her getting him off this way is that he cannot touch her. Not really, anyway.

He comes quickly, but this was to be expected given the circumstances and she’s quite pleased with herself in any case. Once he’s spent, he helps her back to her feet. She’s grinning and he can see she’s already moved on to the next thing in her mind. 

“You know what we need now, don’t you?”

He zips his trousers back up. “You’re going to say ice cream in bed, aren’t you.”

“Ice cream in bed, _yes_!” She exclaims, with all the delight of a child. Then she frowns and shakes her head. “You know me so well it’s honestly a little frightening.”

“That’s kind of my thing,” he says, pulling her to him, his hands clasped at the small of her back. “When I die, they’ll say, _he died as he lived – knowing Ellie Miller better than he knew himself._”

She continues frowning. “Bit morbid.”

He tries to kiss the frown off her lips. “Go on upstairs, I’ll get the ice cream.”

“My hero.” She kisses him back, then pulls out of his arms. “I’ll change into something a bit _more comfortable_.” She wiggles her eyebrows at him.

“Oh, god, please don’t,” he says. Her eyes widen in surprise. “Ellie, I already want you as much as I am physically able to _want_. If you change into anything _more comfortable, _my heart won’t be able to take it.”

She holds up her index finger to him warningly. “Don’t like jokes about your heart.” Then her expressions softens and she kisses him quickly. “Now go get me my ice cream.”

Upstairs, she changes into a tank top and sticks to her knickers, knowing that it’s only a matter of time before he takes them off her again anyway. She sends a quick text to Lucy, asking if she’ll keep the boys through the morning so they can have a good lie-in.

Lucy responds, **Long night ahead? **with a winky face and an eggplant emoji.

**We’ve barely even started.**

Too quickly, Lucy’s response is: **What on earth does “barely” mean???**

Unable to resist, she sends Lucy back a kissy face emoji and an eggplant emoji. 

Lucy: **Just say blow job. God you’re such a prude. **

Ellie rolls her eyes and sighs. She can’t win with Lucy. She thinks about just putting her mobile away then, but for once she has a response that will absolutely _wither_ her sister.

**Snogged a woman tonight. With Alec’s blessing. **

_Who’s the prude now_, Ellie thinks with great satisfaction. Lucy’s response takes almost a minute to come in, and Ellie assumes her sister has simply passed out.

**???????? WHAT ???????**

Ellie doesn’t respond.

**ARE YOU HAVING A BLOODY THREESOME RIGHT NOW?**

Ellie doesn’t respond.

**ARE YOU NOT ANSWERING ME BECAUSE YOU’RE HAVING A BLOODY THREESOME RIGHT NOW?**

Ellie doesn’t respond.

**ELEANOR.**

Finally Ellie texts back, **Sleep well! **

Then Alec enters with a carton of mint ice cream and two spoons. She tosses the mobile away. He hands her the carton and the spoons, then sets about taking off his shoes and socks.

“You feeling better?” Ellie asks, shoving a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. “Bit more _relaxed _perhaps?”

He looks over his shoulder at her from his place on the edge of the bed. He does not know how or why on this earth he finds her so sexy with a mouthful of ice cream.

“No longer feel like I’m goin’ to explode, if that’s what you mean,” he replies, then stands up to take off his trousers. “But I’m nowhere near through with you yet, lass.”

He steps out of his trousers, then pulls off his jumper and climbs into bed with her. She hands him a spoon. He kisses her first, tasting the sweet ice cream on her lips, then digs in.

She sits leaning against the headboard, her feet tucked up underneath her thighs, facing him. “Long night, eh?”

He takes a bite. “Only gettin’ started.”

She rolls her eyes. “Oh stop saying things like that, I _promise _I’ll shag you as many times as you like tonight, yeah? I’m not going to tap out on you.”

“This from the woman who’s been asleep by nine every night this week,” he counters. 

“I’m sleeping for two!” This gets him to laugh. And reminds her of something. “I told Jenny, by the way.” 

He digs around the carton with his spoon. “Told Jenny what.” 

“Bout the baby.” She’s looking at him, waiting for him to look at her.

He reacts with less consternation than she expects. “Mm. Well, we’re only a week or so away from the 12 week mark anyway. Everyone else’ll know soon enough.” He gets more than enough ice cream on his spoon and offers it to her first to make it more manageable. She eats half of it, then he eats the rest. “Bit exciting, isn’t it?”

“What?”

“We’re only a week away from bein’ in the clear,” he says.

She looks away. “I don’t want to talk about this now.”

“Talk about what?” He frowns.

“Things can still _happen _after the 12 week mark, Alec,” she explains. “It’s just a little less likely.”

“Right.” He looks away. “We’ll not discuss it then.” He takes one last bite then puts his spoon down on his nightstand. “What did Jenny have to say about it?”

She takes the carton from him, intent on eating whatever he won’t. “Well, I used it to try and turn her off.” Alec snorts. “Didn’t work.”

“Mm-hmm.” 

Ellie’s blush comes back, thinking on it. “She said it was adorable that I thought it might.” 

“You really did a number on her, didn’t you?” Alec says, feeling a bit proud somehow. There might be a small part of him that _likes_ when others are attracted to Ellie. Because they’re right. Because they should be. Because she deserves to feel that.

“I didn’t mean to!” Ellie insists. “Anyway I thought _you’d _be the only one to find my being pregnant _sexy_." 

He runs a hand up and down her bare leg. “_Do _find it sexy…” He leans forward and tries to kiss her, but she blocks him with her spoon.

“Not yet, still eating.” She points the spoon at him and nudges him away. “I’m very serious about ice cream.”

He sits back, but continues stroking her leg. “Does it feel like somethin' you’d like to do again?”

She thinks about it, then shakes her head. “No. Wouldn’t be much point to it,” she replies. “But it was nice to try.”

Alec breathes a little easier. He doesn’t know what he would have said if she’d said yes.

“Did _you _have any interest in her?” Ellie asks. “Or…him?”

“God, no.” He shakes his head. “She’s an attractive woman but she doesn’t hold a candle to you, and there’d be nothin’ new for me there. Not like there was for you. And as for him…doesn’t interest me. And I don’t think he’s bisexual like she is. Had his eyes on _you _all night.”

She regards him curiously, like she’s trying to see _through _him. “Why did you agree to it?” She asks.

He pulls her leg over his until they’re a tangle of limbs and then runs his hand up and down her thigh. “Because you asked, I think.”

She’s mid-bite and very surprised. He continues off her look. “Because you asked and I trust you. You thought about me first. You wanted somethin', but you didn’t want it at my expense.”

Her heart breaks a little and she reaches out to touch his cheek. “Oh, love.”

“I trust you and I think it’s important that I let my trust in you lead a bit,” he explains. “Trust isn’t much good if you’re not gonna do anythin’ with it.”

She knows trust is no small thing for him. She knows that it is, in fact, the most important thing. And the hardest thing. For both of them, frankly.

She runs her hand through his hair now and pushes it out of his face. “Good.”

“You should be able to want things, El. You should be able to want things and have them,” he continues, on a bit of a roll now. “Our relationship’s not meant to be a…limitation. It’s not an obligation. Our relationship should be…_freeing_, it should be fun. I’m not here to get in the way of the things you want to do. I’m here because we keep choosin’ each other every day. And we can do that and keep havin’ whatever…new and interesting experiences we want to have.”

She has put the ice cream and the spoon down now. She looks down at his hand, still caressing her leg, and then he reaches to hold her hand with his other one. She smiles, feeling an enormous wave of love for his proclivity for touch. “Like what, for instance?” 

“Anythin’,” he replies with surprising ease. “Go skydivin’. Take up archery. Watch rubbish reality television. Fly to Mallorca. You could get a job as a DI, finally, at another precinct and we’ll move wherever that is. I know we live in a small town but…our life doesn’t have to be small, El. Not if we don’t want it to be.”

She blinks back a few tears. She absolutely _will not cry_. “Who _are _you?” She says, forcing out a laugh.

“Dunno where all this is comin’ from, to be honest. It must have been…sloshin’ around inside me for some time and I just didn’t know where to put it,” Alec says. “After tonight, I think I understand it.” 

“I’m…impressed.” She exhales. 

He looks down at their hands. “I think this might’ve been where I went wrong with Tess,” he admits painstakingly. “I thought of our marriage as a limitation, as a restriction. I used it as a reason to say no to things and expected her to do the same. As if being married is the pinnacle of everythin’ and one shouldn’t _want_ anythin’ more. Probably because I was so bloody terrified all the time.”

This line of thinking is a bit mind-blowing to Ellie. She’s not sure she can quite apply it to her own marriage, but she finds that she understands the notion completely once she considers it. She nods intently, feeling like the best thing she can do right now for him is listen.

“’s not like that with you, El. I trust you. I trust that whatever either one of us chooses to do, we’ll still put the other one first. Like you did tonight.” He meets her eyes again. “’m not terrified anymore." 

The moisture in her eyes builds to the point where she can no longer blink it back. She leans forward, reaches for the back of his neck and kisses him intensely. “You beautiful wanker, you." 

He squeezes her leg and smiles crookedly. “Am I makin’ any sense at all?”

She nods, her eyes filled with tears.

“Just want us to make each other’s lives _better_. And bigger. Whatever that means for us. Sounds a bit soppy, doesn’t it?” He cringes a bit.

“No.” She shakes her head. “Actually it doesn’t sound soppy at all. It sounds brilliant. And very, very right.”

Ellie places her palm flat on his bare chest, just next to his pacemaker scar, and looks up at him, open and vulnerable. Because he is the same.

“Alec.”

“Yeah.”

She squeezes his hand and smiles brightly, eyes still glistening with tears. “I think we should get married.”

His whole expression changes rapidly. His eyes widen, his jaw drops slightly and he straightens his spine. “_What_?”

Her gaze is unwavering, but the tone of her voice betrays that she is just as surprised to be saying this as he is to be hearing it. “I don’t think we need to be afraid anymore of who we used to be, of what happened before. We’re not the same people we were then, not by a long shot. We know who we are and we know what we want. _We get it now_. You talk about letting our trust in each other _lead_, well…here we are.” She bites her lip and searches his eyes apprehensively. “…You wanna marry me?”

His shock has slowly begun to dissipate with every word she utters and soon he’s just grinning. “Dunno, you wanna have my baby?”

She grins back. “So.”

“So.”

He raises their hands and interlaces their fingers.

“Bloody helluva night, eh?”

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued directly in the next story of the series!


End file.
